Chitchatting with the Dead

Whenever I learn about something a little out of the ordinary in life, I usually question its validity. Well, at first. It’s not like I don’t believe anything, because, given enough time to analyze it, I feel everything is possible. But I’ve got to see some solid tangible evidence in my own life experiences or I just won’t buy it.

Eating healthy and exercising can help you lose weight? Whatever. Chiropractors are ‘real’ doctors? Doubtful. Algebra is a useful class? Please.

This brings me to my favorite subject: psychic abilities. Yeah, that’s right. Listen up all you skeptics, because things are gonna get all freaky-deaky up in here.

I’ve had loads of experience in the mystical side of things since I was a kid. I grew up in a 100 year old house that was haunted. I’ve glimpsed ghosts. I’ve heard spirits. I’ve been to psychics. I’ve had readings. I haven’t been abducted by aliens. I haven’t gone that far off the edge. I’m not ruling out the possibility, though. As George Carlin once said, “If it’s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I’d have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.”

When you tell someone you believe in this psychic stuff, they either wholeheartedly agree or think you’re obviously off your rocker. The paranormal is something you have to directly experience if you are to fully believe in it. I do think some people can pick up on certain vibes more easily than others. I feel all of us are capable of this ability but choose not to cultivate it.

What convinced me psychic readings were real? I first went to see a medium years ago, before I had kids. At the time, I already believed in psychic ability, not surprising considering my childhood background of directly experiencing the spiritual world. Yet, being born an analytical, critical person, I thought she obviously must be a fake. Charging 60 bucks for an hour? Puhlease! What a racket!

I see…that you will be out sixty bucks in sixty minutes….

So I sat there in a darkened room that reeked of patchouli, trying hard not to giggle as she lit a candle and started some weird oomba-goomba heavy breathing.

Suddenly, she stopped, opened her eyes and looked right above my head.

“He’s very excited because you’re finally acknowledging his presence! He’s saying he’s very proud of you!”

Wow. Get out. I tried not to let out a snort. Ever notice how all dead people seem to want to talk about is how proud they are of the living? Why not tell me next week’s winning lotto numbers? Or who’s in the next Super Bowl? Still, just imagining for one second that maybe my late father really was there in the room, she really was communicating with him and he truly said he was proud of me? I admit, I teared up a little.

“Wait…he’s telling me….” she whispered as she gazed over my left shoulder.

More weird breathing.

Hmm….let me guess…my dad is in a good place now and is at peace?

“He’s saying he gives you signs with the car….um…. something about the doors locking. Yes, he said that soon after he passed, he made the car doors lock and unlock, they went up and down over and over again in his car and he is validating for you that that was him.”

Hold up. Holy crap.

My dad died a week before Thanksgiving in 1991. A few days after he passed, my younger brother and I were driving his old Chevy Blazer around. Every time one of us mentioned my father, the car door locks would suddenly move by themselves, rapidly clicking open and shut. These locks had to be operated manually, they would only open if someone pushed on them. Sometimes they would slowly unlock and lock. When one of us would ask, “Dad? Is that you?” the locks would click faster. We both saw and heard this with our own eyes. Neither of us were near the locks. This went on every time we got into his car for days afterward. But then, a few weeks later, it stopped completely.

“Your dad said he’s there with your dog,” the medium smiled. (My beloved dog died a few months before my dad.) “And your two cats. One cat is very wise. He is very sweet and loving. The other cat comes across as kind of mean.” (Both my cats had died previously and her descriptions of both were accurate.)

“And now your dad is saying you will have kids soon,” she continued. “Don’t worry. He knows you worry about having kids. Oh! He said he’s with your firstborn. He’s a boy. He’s got thick, curly hair just like you.”

Must keep it together. Don’t cry. Don’t you dare cry! Firstborn?? She could be making all of this up. I’m sure she is just pulling stuff out of thin air! Right? Me? A mom? A son?

At the time, I had given up on having babies after trying to get pregnant for two years and undergoing surgery that left me with only one partially functioning ovary. I had thought being a mom maybe wasn’t in the cards for me. But I had a vivid dream once of my dad with my future son and often wondered if this was going to really happen one day.

So this is how my reading went for the next hour. She would blurt something out and I would sit there like an idiot with my mouth hanging open. I didn’t cry though, I really didn’t.

Apparently my dad had a lot to say. He informed me of future events, particularly about my younger brother and something traumatic that he had to go through. Without going into specifics, everything she told me in that reading came true. All of it.

I’ve had several readings since then and all have been eerily accurate. I know what you might be thinking. Feel free to doubt, it’s all right, I would do the same. I respect a skeptic’s view, I do. But these readings were not vague. They didn’t throw random stuff out and fish for information. My readings were all very detailed and only things I would know, things she couldn’t have possibly known beforehand. Sorry, but Google doesn’t have all the answers.

Do you believe in psychics or mediums? If you’ve been to one, do you have any cool stories to share?

I’ll leave you with a hilarious clip from SNL that cracked me up aboutThe Long Island Medium. I faithfully watch this show. I know, she’s a trip, a bit in-your-face and loud. But I do cry watching every episode, I can’t help it.

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98 thoughts on “Chitchatting with the Dead”

Although I’ve never been to a medium myself, I believe that the brain is more powerful than we know, and we only access a percentage of that power. It makes sense to me that some people have the ability to see and understand things beyond their knowledge. I’ve had my own experiences that make me think that at least at one point I was sensitive. I think the only reason (besides financial) that I haven’t gone to a medium is fear–either of being scammed or of hearing a truth I wasn’t ready to hear.

Exactly, Lisa. I’m certain our brains have infinite abilities that most of us either haven’t tapped into, or choose not to bother for whatever reason. I normally go into things thinking, is this person a fake? or does this really work? I felt like that when I first saw a chiropractor. As for not wanting to hear a truth, I can tell you this, I’ve never heard anything from a medium that was too much for me to handle. The majority of the info I’ve received was positive.

I’ve been to mediums and have had some pretty freaky-deaky readings and some that were generic and lame.

When Hubbs’ mother passed away, we worked for days to find the right music for her funeral service. We found a song that is very rarely on the radio and as we were readying to head to the church and Hubbs was fiddling with his tie. I kept trying to hurry him along when he said, “No, Mom would want this to be just right” – as soon as he said that, the song we picked started playing on the kitchen radio. There were so many things that happened that week that told us she was with us.

The most accurate reading of late was this summer, on my birthday, the gal looked at me and said “oh .. your company is about to go through big changes but it will be resolved in the fall.” Got back to my office (this was on my lunch break) and about an hour later an all-employee email came out about a massive restructuring … we’re still going through it but … the changes will be resolved this fall.

Wow, that is amazing! About the song and your mother-in-law, that stuff seems to happen to me, too. Actually, so many things happened the first week after my dad died, I just couldn’t list them all here! For one, we had Thanksgiving (the week after his funeral) and my brothers and mom were all holding hands saying a prayer and we mentioned my dad. Suddenly, my mom’s camera flew off the piano and landed smack in the middle of our dining room table. (my dad loved to take photos) We all saw it and we all knew it was my dad. We weren’t freaked out about it at all. It was actually every soothing to know he was still around.

I love this stuff–maybe I will chuck my negativity about these things and go see one–maybe they can foresee the future and tell me if this bloody lawsuit we have been embroiled in since 2005 will be over before I die and we get back on our feet. What do you think?

I have never been to a reading, but I certainly do believe. For several months after my grandfather passed – I could feel his presence near me. He was one of only 2 people who ever made me feel loved growing up and I felt his loss terribly. I pass several psychic businesses on my wretched commute…maybe one evening I’ll stop on the way home. I think I might be afraid to know some things, though.

I can certainly understand why some people wouldn’t want to know. I guess I’m at a point in my life where I want to know TOO much. ha! Trust me when I say, if you get a good psychic, you will be given positive messages. They shouldn’t be telling you stuff like, “Oh! You’re gonna die next year!”

I’m a skeptic sometimes, but not with your experiences – thanks for sharing them.

I’m with Lisa Wields Words in being fearful of hearing a truth I wasn’t prepared to hear if I went to a medium. I have friends who go to them, and their stories are convincing, too – convincing enough to almost get me to go to one. But I’m a chicken.

Like emjayandthem, when my mother passed away, I had finished cleaning out her apartment, got in the car, turned on the radio and a song that was the basis for one of her eulogies came on the radio – a song we wouldn’t have heard too often. I guess another reason I don’t want to communicate with her or other relatives who have passed on is because I’m afraid they’ll start yelling at me about something I did! Especially my mother! Guilt, guilt, guilt beyond the grave, grave, grave! (I was a horrible teenager and 20-something!)

I’ve shamelessly posted a couple of times about how I’m a fan of “Ghost Adventures.” I’m guessing I watch it as often as you watch “Long Island Medium.” And I just shared a photo I unintentionally took of what MIGHT just be a spirit orb! Mwaaahaaahaaa!

Regarding your fear of being yelled at from beyond, once we die, all the negativity of this world is gone. There is tons of compassion, love, and understanding on the other side. There is no way any message would come through that would be intended to give you guilt. If you ever did sit with a medium and the message had that tone, you are being fleeced. Take your money and run.

I think we can all say we have had our moments in the past when we did or said something terrible or hurt someone in some way. But these things shouldn’t ever be brought up in a reading. If your mom were to come through for you, she would say nothing but loving things about you because now that she’s on the other side, petty little things like guilt and regret don’t exist anymore.

I’ve never seen Ghost Adventures. I think that show would REALLY scare me! Long Island Medium has just the right amount of sappy cheesy drama I can handle. I will have to check out your spooky photo of the orb! I have several weird pictures taken of my son and my nephew when they were both babies that shows this obvious white spiral of energy in every photo that wasn’t there when I took the photo.

I just have to let you know that I’ve been watching a Long Island Medium marathon for the past two hours! I’m crying more than I’m afraid (though the nails – whoa! creepy!). Thank goodness I can switch to The Voice now because I’m emotionally drained! 😉

I not only believe, but have been taking classes locally to learn how to connect to my higher self and to others in the etheric realm (angels, guides, etc.), and also classes in energy healing. So far, I was able to connect to my aunt and to my Dad when they both died within a few weeks of eachother last winter. Last spring,

I called a psychic on her weekly radio show, asking about a behavior my Mother would do every time she would be manic. The psychic gave me some homework to do the next time I meditated. When I did what she asked, I could “see” a chain of wounding from mother to daughter that existed over generations within my family. I called in the big guns and asked them to heal it. Since that day, my Mom has never repeated that behavior, and not only that, but there has been a physical change in her for the better, that medical doctors can not explain. Healing on this level or realm can affect our emotions, our hearts, and our bodies- that’s why I am learning how to do more of it. (If you want to read the whole story about this healing with Mom, I blogged about it. It’s called Anatomy of a Miracle).

I went to a talk about connecting to this other level, the other night. One question that was addressed was why would someone want to be able to do this (and it is trainable). Because, when you have questions in life and can get answers in this manner, and if you trust and follow this guidance, your life is better in inumerable ways.

Incredible, Sue. You inspire me to keep this Reiki thing up. I still want to take the next level. I’ve been so bad lately, not meditating or anything. Might be why I feel so disconnecting from life in general. I think in some ways I am a bit leery of tapping into that other dimension (even though I know I can do it) It’s all for the good of positive healing though and I am all for that in this lifetime!

I’m THRILLED that you wrote about this; I think it was brave, knowing that you might face skepticism. Although, reading the comments so far, I see that that’s not the case! I know we’ve talked about this before, but I definitely believe we’re all connected as energy and that that energy lives beyond the physical body. And I do think everyone has the power to tap into that psychic energy; I’ve had way too many “coincidences” happen in my life to be a skeptic.

AND I’m glad you posted that SNL clip here, HA! One of my recent fans.

I have never experienced any of these things, but I am comfortable with other folks believing different things from me (well, except in politics, I guess). If anyone had come back to see me it would have been my Dad, and well, I don’t think he did.

I know you miss them, terribly, Elyse. I’m certain they are all around you all the time. This may sound really lame, but have you ever come right out and asked them to show you a sign they’re around? I mean ask them directly out loud for a specific sign. (when you’re alone of course, wouldn’t want hubs to think you’re nuts) That’s what I do when I talk to my dad, and he never disappoints. He has always given me an obvious sign.

I’ve had two psychic readings that were on-target. One of them involving a letter from my sister, who passed years ago, rattled me because the psychic was correct about something that was in a letter that my sister wrote to me. Since then, I haven’t been to a psychic. I do not take these readings lightly. (My Mom and several other relatives had ESP, so I do believe.) I’ve had episodes of deja vu, but I don’t think I’ve experienced any ESP moments.

Cool story, Darla. I believe your Dad was trying to send you a message.

That is amazing you had two good readings, Judy. My husband actually went to a psychic once and he was very disappointed. She told him nothing that made any sense to his life at all. I suppose it really depends on the person and the psychic if the reading is accurate.

I also had an encounter with a charlatan. Of the two good readings I had, one was by a man I knew. On the down-low, he predicted that Teddy Kennedy would win the run for U.S. President. Needless to say, he was very wrong. But, in my case, he was exceedingly correct.

I know we’ve both talked of our ghost stories, so I definitely believe, and this another more intricate level. It exists and I think some people are more in tune to it. It’s a shame so many charlatans masquerade as psychics for celebrity, meaning it is never really explored for its possibilities seriously enough.

I read your post, and still don’t think you’re off your rocker. 😀 I actually love when people share stories like this, because it makes me believe. I’ve never been to a medium and don’t know if I’d want to hear what they have to say. But I’ve always been 50/50 on the whole thing. Sometimes I’m a total skeptic, but other times, I wonder, what if? And now I believe a little more than before. Thanks for sharing, that’s very cool. 🙂

Aw, this made me tear up. I recently lost 3 family members and an aunt went to a well-known medium in New York. Her description of the experience with the medium and with the 3 family members who “visited” gave me goosebumps.

So sorry you’ve recently lost three family members, Nicole. But happy your aunt had such a powerful reading. That can make all the difference in how you grieve and live the rest of your life. Really, I think that if a psychic truly has that gift, it’s a priceless one.

I haven’t had a reading, but if I knew a ‘real’ medium I certainly would. One of my grandmothers had ‘abilities’. She sometimes had premonitions of things that did happen. So I am not a skeptic. There are so many people who try to ‘fake’ this gift though, that is hard to know for sure who you can trust.

Oh, many, this made me cry!
I totally believe in the afterlife, although I didn’t until my Dad died.
When I moved out of my parents’ house, my parents got into the habit of calling me (and all of my siblings) to sing to us on our birthdays. We’d laugh at the sound of my Dad singing in his off key voice.
He died in September of 2008. I missed him every single day. On my birthday, in March, I woke up at 5AM to the sound of my cell phone alarm going off. I was really confused, because it was a Sunday, and my alarm was set for Mon-Fri. And it was set for 6 AM, not 5! Still, it kept ringing. I flipped it open, and saw, “alarm off”. But it was ringing in my hand as I read those words. My husband said, “It’s Dad!” and the ringing stopped.
Yup. I believe that was your Dad! Isn’t that just so comforting?!

WOW!!! I have chills! That is awesome! That was your dad all right. No doubt about it. Dads are great at leaving signs, aren’t they? Must be the dad-daughter connection, it’s sometimes very strong. My dad leaves me signs all the time he’s around. What’s funny is, before he died, we often talked about death and I told him, “Don’t you dare haunt me!” and he promised he would never scare me like that. And he never has, his signs are always very sweet. They are signs that are obvious that it’s him, but not scary at all.

I am so sorry you’ve lost your dad, too. At least they let us know they’re around.

You know, I’ve always wanted to go to a psychic/medium just for the heck of it but truthfully – I don’t believe. Funny, because Lenore and I have a post coming soon about ‘believing,’ and this is included, and I recently wrote a post about If I Believed. I love the thought of seeing my daddy again more than anyone else in the whole world, be it in heaven or through a medium, but instead I have to find ways to see him in my cousins and in ME. However, I respect and believe what you’ve seen and heard.

Likewise to you, Kim. I completely get what you’re saying because I’ve felt that way too, before. I love the idea that you can see your dad in yourself and in your cousins. I do see my dad in myself all the time. He’s helped make me into the woman I am today, that’s for sure.

I’m glad you shared this with us Darla. You’ve mentioned that there were psychic “things” you’ve experienced but you’ve never shared details like your Dad fiddling with the car locks or that you were told about your first born being a boy with curly hair!

I don’t have “abilities” but I believe that people from the other side are there trying to get our attention. I don’t know why I only understood it in the past decade. When my Dad died almost 25 years ago he must’ve tried so hard to get my attention but I didn’t see/hear him.

My dog Monty Carlo has seen spirits in our house. In the past year since my Mom died the dog has barked at “nothing” in empty rooms in the house – one time he stood on his hind legs and sniffed the air and then backed away… I used to feel scared of things like that. Not now. I just wish I could see what he saw!

I don’t watch SNL but I thoroughly enjoyed the little piece you shared. Favorite line: I may be a medium but at Chico’s I’m a large! 😀

I think back of all the times my dad probably was trying to get my attention over the years, but I was too busy or doubtful to listen.

I am so sorry your mom recently passed. That is amazing about your dog. My dog I had when I was young used to do that very same thing all the time. She would sense ‘spirits’ in the house I grew up in. She’d look up at a corner of the ceiling and turn her head like she was listening to someone and wag her tail like crazy. I wrote a story about my dog sensing my late grandfather in an old post called Footsteps on the Stairs.

I really appreciate you sharing your experiences… it helps me to not be certain about anything, life after death or not. I have never been to a medium, but a good friend of mine did when her brother died suddenly in an accident that rocked their small town. If I experienced an intense loss like that, who knows?

I saw that LIM SNL skit and had a good laugh. I wish SNL would stick with those type of skits — like the Brad Pitt imitation. Cracks me up!

I think that’s definitely what prompted me. I was incredibly close to my dad. He was my entire world. My mom was kind of MIA most of my childhood mentally, so my dad was my rock. After he died, I felt compelled to try and find out what had happened to him and if he was at peace.

I saw the Brad Pitt one, too. I died laughing!! SNL might be good again, even though Kristen Wiig is gone now.

I’ve never been to a medium, extra large is more my speed. In all seriousness, while I don’t doubt that there is more to this (and other) worlds, I’m convinced that if there is an afterlife, I’m going to hell, so I’d rather not find out about it until then.

I have never been to a physic or never have had a reading. But yes I completely believe what you have shared here. I have some unbelievable things happening when one of my uncle died. There are some invisible powers which become visible the moment we surrender completely themselves with belief on them. And I believe that is what we humans sometime fail to do and convince ourselves that yes it might happen. Thanks a lot Darla for sharing such a powerful personal experience with us. Your dad’s blessing is helping you in every way, I am sure you realize that.

I am fascinated by that Long Island medium woman and John Edwards-I think that’s his name, who used to be on TLC-but I am also pretty skeptical. I would love to connect with my sister and other family members who have died, but then I have an equally strong desire not to be hoodwinked. I am sure tht there are many things we don’t understand about this world or a possible afterlife, but I am definitely not religious. Does this make any sense? With all of that, I would probably go to see a medium if the opportunity arose-just out of curiosity.

It makes total sense. I think what you feel is what a lot of people feel about it. I was there once, too. Watching someone like John Edwards on TV is entirely different than when a psychic is sitting across from you telling you something that only you knew. Then your mind will be blown.

It was one psychic who told me those things about my dad (in my very first reading). But I’ve had readings since then from other psychics, professional ones and friends. Actually, two of my closest friends are psychic and do readings so I sometimes get free readings from them.

An amazing experience! I agree that some people can pick up vibes more easily than others. The older I get the more I realize how little I actually know. I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that some people have the ability to tap into the vibes.

You KNOW I believe in psychic abilities, Darla. Heck, I’ve been psychic on many occasions. I’ve “known” things I should not have been able to know. I’ve posted some stories on Phil’s blog. It will come up tomorrow (10/30). For those who have electrical power, they can read about my supernatural powers.

I have never been abducted by aliens – unless you count when my wife took me away from my people to live amongst you. But I do believe in spirits, as long as they’re at least 80 proof. 😉
Seriously, yes, I do believe in a lot of that stuff. I can even throw science at you, about mutation of energy forms and conservation of energy, to support my beliefs. And speaking of beliefs, I believe I will now get this posted, before my internet connection dies yet again. Speaking of life after death… 😀

I admit it. I am a Grade A skeptic. I don’t deny the existence of the mystic, but I think there are too many people out there trying to take advantage of fragile and susceptible individuals. My hubs and I went to a psychic on a whim on one of our first dates. She told us we would not be together very long, and would be broken up soon. That was 16 years ago. So unless “soon” was in relation to all of eternity, I’m pretty sure she was a fraud. Those kind of things turn me off to it. I don’t deny that your experiences happened at all. I have no doubt that spirits exist. I just have never had any first hand encounters, so have no frame of reference for belief. I wish I did.

See, it’s the ‘bad’ ones that really are a shame. My husband had a reading too that didn’t make any sense and none of it ‘came true’. I suppose being a psychic naturally attracts people who want to fake it just to make money.

“all smug in my smugnitude”… brilliant line and (in all honesty) probably my attitude. I’ve never been to a medium mostly because I know how brutally skeptic I can be. Your experience is pretty amazing and convincing though!

haha! yes even my smugness was shattered with that reading. I still walked away kinda doubting that my late dad really was there and communicating with her. I have it on tape though so when I went back home and listened to it again, I was really blown away.

I was right there with you until she said the cats had passed over, too. While all dogs go to heaven, not so with cats.
I wish I would’ve had you along on the Ghost Tour of Maui, you would’ve livened it up a lot more than the narrator who seemed to think leaves blowing across the sidewalk was spooky.

I would love to have that kind of experience with a medium. But with so many pretenders out there, I have to remain skeptical until I find a reason to think otherwise. Have you continued to visit the same medium?

I believe there are people out there who can do it, but the two mediums I’ve been to weren’t very good. One only said very general stuff, and the other got stuff flat out wrong. I’d love to go see someone who is really good at it.

Wow! That’s pretty crazy. Your story gave me chills. I am kind of a 50/50 skeptic about psychics as there are so many people out to scam you and get your money. But your story is amazing!

I’ve never had a reading although I know my mother has. And I was out in the city with her once around two years ago when a fortune-teller/medium came up to her and told her three things: “you’re going to move house soon, you have a connection with Spain and you’re going to live to be 97”. The first two are true! I was quite astounded. But she is currently battling a serious illness. 😦 I hope so much the last prediction will come true.

Wow, I can’t imagine someone walking up to me and telling me when I was going to die. I don’t think I’d want to know that. I have a close friend who claims she can tell when someone’s time will be up but I told her, never tell me. I’m not convinced anyone can really know for sure.

None of this seems freaky to me at all. I’ve never had a reading from a medium that was even remotely accurate, but I know there are legitimate ones out there. And too much weird stuff has happened to me that i can’t explain.

I think if you decide to continue with Reiki training, you’ll definitely start becoming aware of more energy and you’ll be more receptive to, you know, stuff.

Darla, I am totally on board with psychics and mediums. This story gave me chills! The last time I ‘saw’ a medium, we did a phone session. (I used to see her in Calgary when I still lived there, but didn’t want to see anybody different when we moved to Vic.) I was worried that the information would somehow be too diluted and generic over the phone, but it was uncannily accurate. Spookily so! It was right at the time when I was leaving my office job to work with Marty full time, and our beloved dog (Robertina) had just passed away. If you want to read about it, the post is here: http://zonapellucida.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/totally-freaking-amazing/
(Otherwise, just know that I’m a believer! I’m just thankful to have found a gifted medium from the get-go, though. I don’t know how many charlatans I could withstand.)